Active clinical trials for "Pheochromocytoma"

The purpose of this study is to test the safety of a drug called Ultratrace iobenguane I 131 that has radioactivity, to measure how long it takes for the drug to be absorbed and passed out of the body, and to measure how much radioactivity is absorbed into different tissues of the body.

The investigators planned this study to investigate the effects of dexmedetomidine administration on intraoperative hemodynamic stability in patients with pheochromocytoma.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to evaluate the clarity and comprehensiveness of two disease-specific questionnaires, and to evaluate how effective these questionnaires are at assessing the quality of life and symptoms of patients with pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma.

This clinical trial is designed to evaluate the effectiveness and collect additional safety information on AZEDRA® (iobenguane I 131) for the treatment of metastatic or relapsed/refractory (to other treatment) or unresectable pheochromocytoma or paraganglioma. The purpose of this trial is to test the use of AZEDRA® as a treatment for pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma, a rare disease. This Phase II study will help determine primarily if using the drug reduces the amount of blood pressure medication being taken as a result of the cancer and secondarily to determine such things as the effectiveness of the study drug in treating the cancer, additional safety measures, and to assess if the drug helps the quality of life and use of pain medication. All subjects will receive an imaging dose with scans followed by two therapeutic doses given approximately 3 months apart.

Endocrine diseases including Cushing's syndrome and phaeochromocytoma/paraganglioma (PPGL) but not Conn's syndrome are associated with muscle wasting and weakness. The study's aim is to identify epigenetic determinants of muscle homeostasis in these conditions following medical treatment and adrenalectomy. This is an observational pilot study that will recruit 66 patients from 3 diagnostic groups: Cushing's syndrome (16), PPGL (20) and Conn's syndrome (30). Indices of muscle bulk and strength will be assessed at diagnosis and at outpatient follow-up 6-9 weeks after adrenalectomy. At these times blood and urine will be collected and a muscle biopsy taken from the operation site at the time of surgery. Pathway analysis in these samples will identify potentially novel signalling pathways contributing to muscle wasting via prolonged exposure to high levels of corticosteroid and catecholamines. This will highlight commonalities and differences in pathogenesis of muscle wasting from a variety of different causes. Finally, it will inform identification of novel therapies for muscle atrophy.

18F-FDOPA PET-CT is currently the gold standard in the evaluation of Pheochromocytomas and Paragangliomas (PHEO - PGL) since these tumors can also decarboxylate amino acids such as dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA). This property is common to tumors of the APUD system (Amine Precursor Uptake and Decarboxylation). In recent years, PET (Positron Emission Tomography) imaging using peptide receptors has gained an increasing role in the management of NETs. The use of somatostatin agonists, radiolabeled with gallium-68 (68Ga) enables targeting of Somatostatin receptors (SSTRs) with a PET resolution. This has improved diagnosis of SSTRs-expressing tumors, including PGLs. In the present study, the investigators have chosen DOTATATE (Nal3-octreotate) rather than other agonists (DOTATOC and DOTANOC), because of its higher affinity for SST2 which is the most overexpressed subtype in PHEO/PGL. However, performances of 18F-FDOPA PET-CT and 68Ga-DOTATATE PET-CT have never been compared in this clinical setting.

Hereditary paraganglioma -due to SDH (SDHD, SDHB, SDHC) germline mutations- causes paragangliomas and pheochromocytomas. Presymptomatic genetic testing should be offered to all first-degree relatives if an SDH mutation is detected in an index case with paraganglioma or pheochromocytoma. The main objective of our national clinical research project is to test different screening methods to detect presymptomatic tumors in order to establish guidelines for the work-up and the follow-up of SDH mutation carriers.

Non-invasive measurements of cardiac output (CO), systemic vascular resistance (SVR), corrected aortic flow time (FTc) and stroke volume (SV) are useful parameters during laparoscopic resection of pheochromocytoma (adrenalectomy) to document the intraoperative changes in volume status and to estimate the volume depletion.

This study involves sampling blood from both normal volunteers and patients with diseases known or suspected to involve body chemicals called catecholamines. The blood will be used to establish normal values for plasma levels of catecholamines and related neurochemicals; to test for abnormal neurochemical patterns in patients; and to establish a "bank" of DNA from normal volunteers and from patients to be used in future studies about possible alterations of catecholamine-related genes. Study participants will report to NIH after fasting overnight except for water or noncaloric, noncaffeinated beverages. They must not have taken Tylenol for at least 5 days. Blood will then be drawn. DNA will be extracted and stored in the freezer for future studies.

Pheochromocytoma is a tumor of the adrenal gland. This tumor is typically benign (not cancerous) and can be cured by surgical removal. However, pheochromocytomas produce neurohormones called cateholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine). High levels of catecholamines can result in high blood pressure, headaches, sweating, heart palpitations, nausea, vomiting, and other symptoms. These tumors are considered dangerous because of their unpredictable behavior. Patients with pheochromocytoma may experience blood pressures high enough to cause a stroke or heart attack in patients. This study is designed to take patients suspected of having pheochromocytoma and confirm the diagnosis. This will be done using a variety of laboratory tests including a clonidine suppression test and glucagon stimulation test. These tests use drugs that can stimulate or reduce the activity of the tumor if it is present in the body. Once a diagnosis is confirmed, patients participating in this study will undergo standard procedures to find the exact location of the tumor and receive standard therapy for the condition.